For Those About To Squawk: Life Of Agony, Warcrab, Statiqbloom

So the Decibel Metal and Beer Fest was a HUGE success, if you didn’t go… ya blew it. There was metal, there was beer… maybe next year they’ll ask your old boy Waldo to perform… we’ll see…

So, I’m admittedly not the world’s biggest Life Of Agony fan… so let’s just get into it. A Place Where There’s No More Pain is out on Napalm Records, and I gotta say I’m not into it. The biggest difference here is that singer Mina has ditched the Danzig-esque baritone in favor of a higher register.  This leaves the impression of a more rock sound, and there’s not that much “heavy” on the record. This is hard rock, and kind of comes off sounding like Stone Temple Pilots or something like that.  The production is clear and present, but the performances seem… uninspired… and the lyrics are the type that are written when getting older.  I dunno, OTHER reviews of this thing are pretty good, I just can’t beaking get into it.  Apparently, it’s what the fans have been begging for, so like, if you’re a fan, this is probably cool, but I’m not a fan, so this is what it is… boring hard rock. 3 Fucking Pecks.

Well, doesn’t it seem like I reviewed Warcrab recently? Well I did… Back in October and it looks like Scars of Aeons is finally coming out. So, like, my previous review mentions thrash and while this has a thrash vibe, it’s definitely a little sludgier than I remember.  There can’t be 2 bands called Warcrab, can there? Anyway, a second listen to this does not help my previous review.  This isn’t bad, and there are some riffs here and there that kinda harken back (albeit slightly) to Bolt Thrower… Now that I think about it, this is kind of a clone of Bolt Thrower and not in a good, crusty, filthy way.  It’s really hard to hate this, but it’s hard to love. It just seems a little trite, a little by the numbers. This doesn’t blow, maybe they’re phenomenal live. 5 Fucking Pecks.

So I’ve been excited about Statiqbloom for a while now. Featuring Fade Kainer from Tombs, Battilus fame, this is early-90’s industrial all the way. Blue Moon Blood is a throwback, meanwhile it maintains its own sound and doesn’t come off as some drum machine copy of creative bands from 20-some years ago. This isn’t metal, it’s VERY industrial, but dark, brooding and strange. This is killer. If you’ve never checked this sort of thing out before, do yourself a favor and get into it. Translation Loss did a great job here, and while this is not your average metal fare, this is for metal heads. Think old Wax Trax stuff. I’m pecking digging it. 7 Fucking Pecks.

Until next time…